2023-08-18 18:13:22
Worldwide Bible distribution is slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels, with 35.5 million Bibles being delivered in 2022 to people who lacked access to the Scriptures. This distribution work is an essential part of evangelistic actions around the world.
The survey was carried out by the United Bible Societies (UBS), an entity that brings together 150 Bible societies around the world. These numbers exceed by 30 million the total distributed in 2021, the year in which the activity took place. hampered by the pandemic.
“That’s what we were founded for,” commented director Rieuwerd Buitenwerf of the Dutch-Flemish Bible Society (NBG). “There are still many situations where people would like to have their own Bible but cannot get a copy without help.”
Buitenwerf indicated that the Scripture distribution effort is coordinated and joint: “The Bible gives strength and inspiration, especially in difficult times. That’s why Bible societies around the world are doing everything they can to give as many people as possible access to the Bible, as a book, digitally or in audio format,” he added.
UBS says there are difficulties in distributing Bibles because of the impact the war in Ukraine has had on the production and distribution chain, as well as rising prices. Even so, according to information from the portal Ctoday166.4 million copies of the Bible – including versions that contain only one of the testaments – were delivered last year.
Digital Bible distribution has been growing steadily for years, and the decline in 2021 was temporary, the UBS report shows. In 2021 the percentage of Bibles downloaded was 20% of the total number of Bibles distributed, in 2022 it was 28%.
As a comparison, in 2010 approximately 200 thousand digital copies of the Bible were downloaded worldwide, against 10 million last year, which represents an exponential growth.
#million #people #received #Bibles